I would personally rather have interesting, fun and exceptionally well written story arcs as rewards for getting to certain levels, not capes and auras.
I'd rather take out the cape and aura missions and replace them with a slew of interesting stories.
That's what I play this game for, the stories, the plot, the encounters.
I want to play through it as the character I imagined, not have to wait until an artificial level so that I can be the complete concept I imagined when creating the character.
But again, that's just me.
[url=http://vox-doom.deviantart.com]Take A Gander At This.[/url]
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The reasons not to are not known by me. But I assume that they want us players to make our characters earn the right to wear capes/auras/get epic powers/get an epic AT to play.
And guess what, I fully agree with those reasons. Because those reasons are the ONLY thing that truly counts. This is a game and you have to earn things in game by reaching milestones. This is NOT a fancy chatboard although you can use it like that.
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Firstly, having capes and auras are nowhere near close to getting an epic AT or your epic power set. The former is completely concerned with your characters concept whilst the latter does have some benefits to you in-game.
My point is that as a milestone, a cape is a ridiculous reward. They're not new and shiny enough anymore to warrant it. Also, it comes at a point in the game where you get a lot of stuff anyway. They don't need to be there in order to encourage or reward because, at this late stage, they do neither.
Right, time for my two penneth, I think.
I tend to agree that restricting capes to L20+ is a little peculiar. I'd prefer to see a level-independent pop-up contact that appears the first time you create a costume that has a cape, so that you can go and do the missions and learn the background. You know the type I mean - "The City Representative in Atlas Park City Hall would like to speak to you about the history and importance of superheroes wearing capes in Paragon City." Boom, active contact. For villains, something similar (not quite sure what, though).
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise 
; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
I think they should shift the mission levels for them actually... Capes should unlock at level 10, and have the damn City Rep call YOU rather than the other way around. I've lost count of the number of times I've answered the question "How do I get my cape?"
Auras move to level 20, and change the stupid explanation so that it's more in fitting with the character's origin.. Something like:
Mutant - Your mutation has progressed
Science - The incident that gave you your powers has worked further changes in you
Technology - Hey, here's some new technology for you, look what it can do!
Magic - Here's a new spell for you to learn
Natural - I picked up this gadget that looks neat, want to try?
We have branching mission text now, so this IS possible. Anything's better than the current stupid explanation though.. Excuse me? Pacemaker? My skin is invulnerable, how're you gonna get that thing in there?
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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The reasons not to are not known by me. But I assume that they want us players to make our characters earn the right to wear capes/auras/get epic powers/get an epic AT to play.
And guess what, I fully agree with those reasons. Because those reasons are the ONLY thing that truly counts. This is a game and you have to earn things in game by reaching milestones. This is NOT a fancy chatboard although you can use it like that.
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Firstly, having capes and auras are nowhere near close to getting an epic AT or your epic power set. The former is completely concerned with your characters concept whilst the latter does have some benefits to you in-game.
My point is that as a milestone, a cape is a ridiculous reward. They're not new and shiny enough anymore to warrant it. Also, it comes at a point in the game where you get a lot of stuff anyway. They don't need to be there in order to encourage or reward because, at this late stage, they do neither.
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I agree that capes have lost some of their shine nowadays but Auras are still good.
However. They are still milestones. Just like customizable weapons are milestones.
Yeah, good idea. You could have an origin specific aura mission even.
The villain one is a bit to magic as well.
I really should do something about this signature.
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Mutant - Your mutation has progressed
Science - The incident that gave you your powers has worked further changes in you
Technology - Hey, here's some new technology for you, look what it can do!
Magic - Here's a new spell for you to learn
Natural - I picked up this gadget that looks neat, want to try?
We have branching mission text now, so this IS possible. Anything's better than the current stupid explanation though.. Excuse me? Pacemaker? My skin is invulnerable, how're you gonna get that thing in there?
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With this part I can fully agree. Missions could use a bit of shining up and making them origin dependent seems to be a logical step.
Personal I'm not saying remove the lvl20 and lvl30 mile stones but instead give every one auras and capes at lvl1 and introduce new more fitting milestones
if were supposed to honer the memory of hero 1 and the rest of Omega team at lvl 20 have what you unlock be related to them not just a random cape
If at lvl 30 were supposed to gain even greater control that's fine but to my mind walking about on fire or having a constant green radiation glow isn't demonstrating great control of your abilities if anything your more of a hazard and the hole pace maker thing is just ridiculous. Instead stick the current auras at lvl 1 as they all pretty much show you have very little control over your power and then at lvl 30 have more auras unlock that show control also have multiple versions of the unlock mission txt so you can pick the one that best relates to your concept.
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I'm sorry, but if you not being able to have your cape at level 1 is stifling your enjoyment of the game that much, then maybe it's time for a break.
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I didn't say it was stifling my enjoyment of the game. I said it was stifling creativity. As for taking a break, I've only just come back, you're not getting rid of me that easily.
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it doesn't take a big leap in imagination to get around it, especialy if the cape is that important or central to the characters concept.
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No, it takes the Valkyrie pack to get around it. So why achieve when you can simply buy it? You don't need achievement to get a cape anymore and that cape isn't the reward it once was so why have it as a reward?
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I believe I explained that in the latter half of that sentance; "something else that players no longer have to work towards but are given on a plate". If you cheapen something that previously had to be earned, it's no longer a reward, there's no longer a sense of achievment when you are given it, and ultimately there becomes nothing else that makes you go "YEEESSS" when you get it. THAT is something that is detremental to the game more than anything.
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forgive me for being ignorant but I am unaware of the other things we have been given, what are they? I've not been here for a while. Maybe that's why I have a different point of view.
I do wonder though, couldn't the rewards you once got be replaced with other rewards? See, I am thinking back over the Nemesis Staff temp power, for example. I have that on every character now (well, that or the wand) but it doesn't cheapen the experience of doing the mission for me. Perhaps that is because I am taking away more than just a temp power but rather the experience of having beaten the mission and the good time that I have spent with the people who teamed with me.
I don't think there is anything that I would begrudge a starting character if it didn't break the game mechanics. It just seams anti-fun to me.
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I agree that capes have lost some of their shine nowadays but Auras are still good.
However. They are still milestones. Just like customizable weapons are milestones.
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Sorry, you can do what now?? How are customisable weapons milestones?
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Personal I'm not saying remove the lvl20 and lvl30 mile stones but instead give every one auras and capes at lvl1 and introduce new more fitting milestones
if were supposed to honer the memory of hero 1 and the rest of Omega team at lvl 20 have what you unlock be related to them not just a random cape
If at lvl 30 were supposed to gain even greater control that's fine but to my mind walking about on fire or having a constant green radiation glow isn't demonstrating great control of your abilities if anything your more of a hazard and the hole pace maker thing is just ridiculous. Instead stick the current auras at lvl 1 as they all pretty much show you have very little control over your power and then at lvl 30 have more auras unlock that show control also have multiple versions of the unlock mission txt so you can pick the one that best relates to your concept.
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That, definitely that....
Sorry, that's three posts in a row. I'll stop now.
On thought that occurs to me that hasn't really been discussed here:
Very few superheroes (or villains for that matter) seem to have arrived on the scene complete. Every hero I can think of has evolved in some way, over time. Hell, Superman couldn't even fly when Siegel & Schuster first created him remember.
It takes time for characters to evolve. I cannot think of a well-known comicbook character who has arrived and remained static. (Reed Richards is perhaps the closest I can come up with but even he has changed quite dramatically over the last 45 years.)
I grant that the whole "cape & auras" thing is clunky in CoX, but it does allow your character a measure of "emotional" evolution that doesn't simply result in different game play. It's more thematic than physical.
But equally, this is an emotional argument. It relies on the player "buying in" to their character as an evolving being. I'm fine with that, because to me, level 50 is just getting started, but for others, it can be a very different experience I guess.
Thelonious Monk
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Very few superheroes (or villains for that matter) seem to have arrived on the scene complete. Every hero I can think of has evolved in some way, over time. Hell, Superman couldn't even fly when Siegel & Schuster first created him remember.
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I had a character who was a blaster.. a robot actually who upgraded his look (when he got a new costume) every so often. That was the idea behind him. He was constantly growing and making more sophisticated things to put in himself.
Similarly I had a character who had one costume and never changed it. That was part of his concept as well. But he didn't grow, in terms of story arc development. He was who he was, he had arrived and each new mission was like a new episode of a cartoon show.
Both characters were really enjoyable to play and for different reasons. There are plenty of ways to show that a character is developing within the game. It is something, however, that could quite easily be left up to the player to decide. Your character doesn't have to be fully formed (in terms of powers). The important thing is, I believe, that he/she/it looks right in your eyes. It was a USP of the game and I have always felt it somewhat of a cheat that the cape and aura were left as rewards in a system that was so determined to make you constantly earn things that should have been available to all.
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Sorry, you can do what now?? How are customisable weapons milestones?
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Yeah, no Talsorian stuff until I grind out a hundred or more Vanguard Merits in the warzone starting level 35.
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
To your first point, sorry I shouldn't have said "you", perhaps I should have said "one". I realise you've just come back, and I didn't mean you specifically.
Your example of the Nemesis staff is really case in point. It's a veteran reward. You have to have 33 months of consecutive account time before you are entitled to it. I have a couple of characters, and one in particular who's concept would be grately enhanced and "completed" once I have that reward (which is immininent in the next week or two 
). To use your logic, I should have had that from day 1.
My argument is, I'll appreciate it a whole lot more having to wait for it and having to earn it.
One other point about it "stifling creativity", is if anything it promotes a different kind of creativity in thinking of a reason why your character has to wait 'til 20 and 30 for capes and auras.
@SteelRat; @SteelRat2
"Angelina my love, I'm a genius!"
"Of course you are darling, that's why I married you. Physically, you're rather unattractive"
http://faces.cohtitan.com/profile/SteelRat
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I agree that capes have lost some of their shine nowadays but Auras are still good.
However. They are still milestones. Just like customizable weapons are milestones.
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Sorry, you can do what now?? How are customisable weapons milestones?
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A lot of them are unlockable only. You want them you get the badge. A lot of those badges can only be won the hard way and most definitely not at level 1. That is as stifling my creativity (more so in my case) as much as waiting until lvl 20 to get one of the most easiest mission ever.
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One other point about it "stifling creativity", is if anything it promotes a different kind of creativity in thinking of a reason why your character has to wait 'til 20 and 30 for capes and auras.
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<removed by mod>
A limit is a LIMIT. ANY limit, by the very definition, limits something. In this case, it's limiting what someone wants to do with a character concept. Sure they can adjust, and have too, but that's NOT WHAT THEY WANT TO DO, so their creativity is being limited, restricted, stifled.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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One other point about it "stifling creativity", is if anything it promotes a different kind of creativity in thinking of a reason why your character has to wait 'til 20 and 30 for capes and auras.
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I suppose all heroes make their start in Outbreak then? What about the creativity to create an old 1940's crimefighter who dons his cape again and starts training up to help fend off the Rikti threat? Or a former Cold War soviet hero who decides to move to America and try for a better life, bringing his powers of lightning and ice with him? I can't just start him at 30 so he can have his aura that defined him.
It's a lot like people thinking on WoW that all characters come from Northshire Abbey for humans. Because a Warlock or a Rogue is going to train in a church, right?
In fact, I'm almost now tempted to write a story about a British hero reaching customs in Paragon and being asked to remove his cape because he 'hasn't earned the right to it', leading to him laying the smack down when an officious beurocrat tries to take it from him and he heads home, deciding that the country doesn't want or respect his offer of help.
I know, maybe I should just look for farm teams for all my characters till they're at the point where I can get the costume options to be happy playing with them. It's not a dangling carrot, it's a "Oh look, I've got to slog through these same boring, repetitive levels to get something. I think I'll do something else instead."
Can't we come to a happy compromise?
Say... if you've unlocked Capes and auras with 5 characters, then it unocks them at level 1 permenantly since by then you're going to be pretty sick of doing it.
Thus pleasing the people who believe games should be irritatingly repetative and those who want just want our capes and auras!
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I agree that capes have lost some of their shine nowadays but Auras are still good.
However. They are still milestones. Just like customizable weapons are milestones.
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Sorry, you can do what now?? How are customisable weapons milestones?
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A lot of them are unlockable only. You want them you get the badge. A lot of those badges can only be won the hard way and most definitely not at level 1. That is as stifling my creativity (more so in my case) as much as waiting until lvl 20 to get one of the most easiest mission ever.
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Wow, you go away for a bit and they change something like that. Actually, I think that's cool, along with the wings that you have to earn and the odd costume piece that you have to have paid for.
The difference there is that you actually get weapons with you character and there is a certain amount of customisation that you get with that. You don't get any choice in capes at level 1 at all (unless you pay for it or have been here a while). Even if they gave you a small selection of capes and there were others you could 'unlock'. I'd be happy with that... not sure if others would though, what does everyone else think?
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Say... if you've unlocked Capes and auras with 5 characters, then it unocks them at level 1 permenantly since by then you're going to be pretty sick of doing it.
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I'd go for that, or you could make it part of the 3 month vet reward perhaps.
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I agree that capes have lost some of their shine nowadays but Auras are still good.
However. They are still milestones. Just like customizable weapons are milestones.
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Sorry, you can do what now?? How are customisable weapons milestones?
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A lot of them are unlockable only. You want them you get the badge. A lot of those badges can only be won the hard way and most definitely not at level 1. That is as stifling my creativity (more so in my case) as much as waiting until lvl 20 to get one of the most easiest mission ever.
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While yes some weapons are unlockable not all weapons are its not a case of if you want to play a mace shield character you first have to start of with a bit of pipe and a manhole cover and then unlock that cool tech mace and kick [censored] energy shield that you truly wanted at lvls 20 and 30, you can go strait to them with no waiting around to complete your vision which i mite add is CoHs major selling point it lets you create the hero you want.
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One other point about it "stifling creativity", is if anything it promotes a different kind of creativity in thinking of a reason why your character has to wait 'til 20 and 30 for capes and auras.
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Y'know... That there sentence is quite possibly the most stupid collection of words ever assembled into a sentence EVER.
A limit is a LIMIT. ANY limit, by the very definition, limits something. In this case, it's limiting what someone wants to do with a character concept. Sure they can adjust, and have too, but that's NOT WHAT THEY WANT TO DO, so their creativity is being limited, restricted, stifled.
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that's pretty rude and I'm kinda surprised at you for that FFM
I can see perfectly well what SR was saying - the Devs & game, partly through necessity, place constraints on us. Therefore we should use our collective imaginations to explain, to ourselves, if not others, why those limits are placed upon us.
Everything has limits. Even this game. How we deal with them reflects on us I feel
Thelonious Monk
the game is so limited and restricted, i wonder why paying for a monthly fee is needed.
i want to have an aura on my character, i need to be lvl 30.
i want a cape, i need to be lvl 20.
i want to play a widow, the only thing that interests me on this entire game, and i need to play a part of the game for 2 years i don't like.
i know limits and restrictions are needed, but this is just ridicules.
i pay my fee always on time, i even pay for the extra things around it, but i barely get anything back.
veteran rewards are good to keep ppl playing, but because of the bad XP rate and the miles of restrictions, i see no reason why i should play this game at all.
ill wait till CO comes along, there i can at least play what i like and am not restricted to oblivion.
You get what you put in really...
Rabbits & Hares:Blue (Mind/Emp Controller)Maroon (Rad/Thermal Corruptor)and one of each AT all at 50
MA Arcs: Apples of Contention - 3184; Zen & Relaxation - 35392; Tears of Leviathan - 121733 | All posts are rated "R" for "R-r-rrrrr, baby!"|Now, and this is very important... do you want a hug? COH Faces @Blue Rabbit
I have to admit that the excessively dull series of "Talk to" missions for the hero cape mish, while providing some nice game-world lore, gets a bit stale after you've done it once or twice.
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.